Library, lawmen feel brunt of budget defeat

From left, Bob Bridges, Mike Beaulieu, Tom Gray and Joe Ryan

About $17,000 worth of repairs to upgrade the Milton Free Public Library in Milton Mills is among the projects that will have to be put on hold due to the rejection of a proposed budget by town voters a week ago today.

Also unfunded is about $30,000 for police officer raises designed to bring the salaries of the Milton department more in line with neighboring towns, which Milton Police Chief Mark McGowan had said is vital to retain experienced officers.

McGowan told WMUR-TV last Wednesday that he’d probably lose some officers due to the proposed budget’s rejection.

Residents rejected the $3.5 million budget, 422-355, putting in place a default budget of $3.4 million.

The other major impacts include two part-time positions – one at the police station and one at Town Hall – as well as a 1.7 percent cost of living wage increase proposed for town workers, according to interim Town Administrator Joe Ryan, who revealed the major impacts at last night’s regularly scheduled selectmen’s meeting at the Emma Ramsey Center.

The meeting marked the introduction to the board of newly sworn-in Selectman Mike Beaulieu, who asked at one point as he signed several documents if you “got pens with the job.”

“No, but you do get writer’s cramp,” Selectman Tom Gray quipped.

Later in the meeting, Ryan suggested the possibility of posting unapproved minutes of selectmen’s meetings online immediately after meetings. He said some residents had voiced concern over the delay in posting approved minutes and that this might mitigate some residents’ frustration.

Gray, who was voted selectmen chairman at the start of the meeting, said that the town had done that in the past, and that news items had shown up in newspapers that were incorrect and represented as from official minutes. He voiced disfavor on the proposal, and no further action was taken on the matter.

The unapproved minutes will still be available at Town Hall, just not online.

Resident David Hall asked how soon it would take to post the minutes online once they were approved and was told they would be posted the next day.

Also selectmen were apprised of a state bridge report that urged more “Bridge Closed” signs at the Allen Hastings Way bridge at the bottom of Piggot Hill in Milton Mills and that the Winding Road bridge in west Milton over Lyman Brook should be certified with an E2 weight restrictions and that the town could opt for even stricter limits.

The meeting, which was attended by about 15 residents, lasted just 40 minutes and adjourned at 6:40.